The Wild Olive Tree is a social enterprise cafe, started in 2015 as a ministry of St. George’s Tron, in whose sanctuary the cafe sits. The aim was to open up the church building, creating a place of meeting and rest, sanctuary and provision, but with a particular heart for those who are in need. We hope that you enjoy your visit and find this place to be a haven of peace in the busy city centre.
We choose to keep our menu simple; we aim to do just a few things and do them really well. Our soups, salads, scones and cakes are all made in-house by our excellent cook, offering a slightly different variety each day. We serve soup from 12 noon each day until we close or run out, and our scones, cakes and coffees are all available from when we open each morning. Please note that lunchtime is our busiest period, from around 12-2pm, and during that time you may have to queue for a table. If you sit in a smaller group at one of our larger tables during these periods, you may be asked to share your table with another person/small group. During exceptionally busy periods we may have to ask for the table back after 90 minutes if you do not wish to order anything else. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding!
We are proud to support local and ethical businesses as suppliers for the Wild Olive Tree, such as Dear Green Coffee: a local Glasgow roastery, whose delicious Brazil single origin beans creates our tasty espresso. We source our incredible artisan bread from Freedom Bakery, a social enterprise based in Glasgow who give training opportunities to inmates from three Glasgow prisons. You can choose from Freedom Bakery’s white bloomer, brown struan or slow fermented sourdough to enjoy with any of our soups! We also buy in fair-trade or direct-trade goods wherever possible, and all of our takeaway disposables are Vegware, fully compostable and biodegradable, even the cutlery and straws!
We often hear people walk into this building and comment that it ‘used to be a church’…! St. George’s Tron is STILL very much a church and an active and lively place of worship, ministry and mission, with around 130 people gathering at the various services each week. The minister is Rev Alastair Duncan and he leads services three times each week as follows:
Sunday at 12.30pm: Cafe Church service
Sunday at 5.00pm: SGT@FIVE Evening Service
Wednesday 1.15pm: Midweek service.
We would love to tell you more about what goes on here, so feel free to have a look around or ask any of the cafe staff if you would like to know more about the church; or perhaps ask to speak to our Cafe Chaplain, who is available during cafe hours to offer a friendly chat, a listening ear or prayer support to anyone who needs it....
We often hear people walk into this building and comment that it ‘used to be a church’…! St. George’s Tron is STILL very much a church and an active and lively place of worship, ministry and mission, with around 130 people gathering at the various services each week. The minister is Rev Alastair Duncan and he leads services three times each week as follows:
Sunday, doors open at 12pm: Cafe Church service
Sunday at 5.00pm: Talkback Service (on Zoom)
Wednesday at 1.15pm: Midweek service.
We would love to tell you more about what goes on here, so feel free to have a look around or ask any of the cafe staff if you would like to know more about the church; or perhaps ask to speak to our Cafe Chaplain, who is available during cafe hours to offer a friendly chat, a listening ear or prayer support to anyone who needs it. You are welcome to sit in the chairs in the sanctuary to pray or have a peaceful moment of rest, and the paintings on display offer an opportunity for quiet contemplation. Each portrait is a modern interpretation of a passage in the Gospel of Luke painted by Scottish artist I D Campbell, who worked as artist-in residence at St George’s Tron from 2016-2019.
Glasgow Street Pastors and Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland are also based within St. George’s Tron.
In the story of Noah in the Old Testament, the olive branch features as a symbol of peace and of a fresh beginning. But the reference to a wild olive tree comes from two other places in the Bible:
In Romans 11:17, it says: “Some of the branches of the cultivated olive tree have been broken off, and a branch of a wild olive tree has been joined to it. You Gentiles are like that wild olive tree, and now you share the strong spiritual life of the Jews.”
Christians are ‘grafted’ into the family of God’s people through their faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, the wild olive tree is a symbol of God’s invitation to be ‘grafted’ in to Him, connected to Him through faith in Jesus Christ...
In the story of Noah in the Old Testament, the olive branch features as a symbol of peace and of a fresh beginning. But the reference to a wild olive tree comes from two other places in the Bible:
In Romans 11:17, it says: “Some of the branches of the cultivated olive tree have been broken off, and a branch of a wild olive tree has been joined to it. You Gentiles are like that wild olive tree, and now you share the strong spiritual life of the Jews.”
Christians are ‘grafted’ into the family of God’s people through their faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, the wild olive tree is a symbol of God’s invitation to be ‘grafted’ in to Him, connected to Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
In Nehemiah 8, wild olive trees played a part in the celebrations which took place as God’s people rediscovered their connection and relationship to God following a long period of exile in a foreign country, where their relationship with the living God had fallen away.
So, the wild olive tree represents connection and re-connection to God. It is our hope and prayer that that may be your experience in this place.
